Any Other Morning
by Tanith2011
Summary: Five-O are concerned when one of their own arrives at the office looking the worse for wear. A H/C story with a twist. Includes a small tribute and fun trivia for Kono.


_**AN #1: Something a little different, written in response to a writers H/C challenge. After some thought, I decided to post this here. Feedback is appreciated if you have the time to leave me a review, thanks :-) To "jodm": I owe Mr. Tribbles to you - mahalo for the inspiration.  
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**Any Other Morning **

_(written 13__th__ May, 2012)_

_* Edited by "Book 'em Again" *_

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Glancing at the clock on the wall for the umpteenth time that morning, Dan Williams' frown deepened. It was unlike his boss to be this late without calling. His azure eyes dropped to the phone on Steve McGarrett's desk. _No, I already tried that. _He'd already called Steve at his home several times and no one picked up. _Where are you Steve? _Steve had told his men to be at the office two hours early so they could go through the Cleveland case. Although they'd only been waiting at his office for half an hour, Dan, Chin and Kono knew how Steve was about punctuality.

"Maybe da boss got caught in traffic?" Kono pondered aloud between morsels of donut. The big Hawaiian sat in front of Steve's desk with a box of donuts in one hand and a half-eaten one in the other.

"Kono's right, Danny. I'm sure he'll be here any minute," Chin Ho Kelly piped in optimistically as he watched the young sandy haired detective pacing the perimeter of the office.

"It's just odd that Steve would be late. I never thought that was possible." Dan let out a nervous laugh before perching himself on the corner of the desk. He picked up his lukewarm coffee and took a sip. Almost gagging, Dan pushed the mug away from him and rounded on Kono. "I thought you said this was coffee?"

"It is. What's wrong with it?" Kono replied, wide-eyed in confusion.

"It's…" Dan's voice trailed off at the sound of the door opening. All eyes turned to the dishevelled looking figure walking through the doorway.

The tall, dark haired detective strolled into the office like he would any other morning. _If I just act normal, maybe they won't ask any questions_, he thought. Closing the door behind him, Steve McGarrett painfully limped toward his desk. The skin beneath his already loosened collar was beginning to burn as he felt three pairs of eyes studying him. Reaching up out of instinct, he tugged at the offending material until a tearing noise reached his ears. Clearing his throat noisily, Steve cast a glance at his second in command.

"Danno, have you obtained the statements from the key witnesses?"

"It's right here, Steve." Without taking his eyes off Steve, Dan picked up the file on the desk and passed it to his boss. "What happ…"

"Kono!" Steve almost shouted.

Kono stood up from his seat so fast he almost overturned his donut box. Donut crumbs dropped to the floor from his lips and chin.

"Did Doc get back to you with autopsy results yesterday?"

Nodding, Kono placed the donut box on the chair behind him and took out his note book from his top pocket. He flipped it open to the page he sought and read out the details.

"Good, Kono."

"Steve, are you…" Kono ventured but was immediately cut off by the tall detective who stood behind his desk.

"Chin, I need you to get on to Che and find out how the boys are going with those prints," Steve instructed.

"On it Steve. Is everything…." Chin's warm brown eyes took in the unusual appearance before him.

"Let's take it from the top. We know that Jarod Cleveland has motive for killing his grandmother…" Steve began in a loud voice. His attempts to drown out the oncoming barrage of questions were too evident.

_That's it! _Dan had enough of Steve avoiding the very concerns that was on everyone's minds. It was obvious Steve was trying to hide how he came to be in the condition he was in. Sliding off the desk, Dan turned to face his boss and mentor. He took a deep breath, exchanged anxious glances with Kono and Chin then faced Steve once more.

Sighing in exasperation, Steve paused in mid-sentence. "What is it, Danno?"

"What happened to you this morning?"

"Nothing that concerns you, believe me," Steve answered in a serious tone before breaking eye contact with Dan and turning to look at Kono and Chin. "_Any_ of you. Now, can we go on, gentlemen? I'm already behind schedule as it is."

"No. Not until you tell us who roughed you up," Dan countered, defiantly. He continued to stare at the fresh cuts and bruises marring his boss's face and how his hair was now parted on the wrong side in a tousled manner. His normally straight tie hung loosely around his blood smeared collar.

"Look," Steve pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He suppressed a wince as a cut running along the length of his nose stung irritably.

Suddenly the door swung open and an elderly woman, flanked by two guards entered.

"Mr. McGarrett! Oh, Mr. McGarrett!" An out of breath Mrs. McIntyre huffed. She tried to shake the guards off her arms. A furry bundle squirmed in her grasp from the jostling movement.

"I'm sorry, sir but she insisted on seeing you," the stockier of the two guards apologized.

"Mr. Tribbles wants to say thank you and that he's sorry for causing you to be late for work!" Mrs. McIntyre implored. In her arms was a big ginger tom cat, eyeing them all curiously with his bright green eyes.

"Mrs. McIntyre, would you kindly wait outside my office, please?" Steve quickly tried to usher the woman out the door, ignoring the bemused looks his men were throwing his way.

"Mr. Tribbles was so distressed being up on that tree. Thank God you came along when you did…." Whatever else Mrs McIntyre had to say was lost as Steve shut the door after her and the two Palace guards.

"What was that all about?" Dan asked, a flicker of his boyish grin appeared on his face.

"If you really must know, I spent my morning up a tree rescuing Mrs. McIntyre's big orange cat. Now, can we move on?" Steve barked, throwing a warning glance at each of his men.

"Dat was nice of you, boss. Is dat why you're…"

"Kono, enough! Let's get this morning underway…" Steve wished he could rewind the clock and re-start his morning. A knock on the door once again disrupted his train of thought.

"Mr. McGarrett? Can Mr. Tribbles…" Mrs. McIntyre's voice grinded on Steve's nerves.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," the head of Five-O said between clenched teeth, as he strode away from his desk then wrenched the door open and stormed out. It was just as well the door slammed shut behind him because it masked the laughter that broke out within the office.

"Looks like da boss finally met his match!" Kono quipped.

"Yeah, Mr. Tribbles!" Dan wrapped his arms across his midsection as he tried to hold in the laughter that threatened to erupt.

"Wait till my kids hear this!" Chin chuckled heartily.

No one heard Steve re-enter the office as Kono began an impersonation of his boss, "_Book 'im Danno!_"

"I hear there's an opening for a new stand-up comedian at the C'est Si Bon Showroom in the Pagoda Hotel and Restaurant," McGarrett announced.

The laughter died on each of their faces. Kono's complexion seemed to lose its color. He lowered himself in his seat, forgetting that he had placed his box of donuts on the chair. All eyes turned to the young Hawaiian as he slowly rose from the seat and pulled out his flattened breakfast.

"What's the matter, Kono?" Steve asked with a hint of sarcasm lacing his voice. "_Cat_ got your tongue?"

**Pau **

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_*** AN #2 - Trivia:**__ In 1971, actor Gilbert Zulu Kauhi who played Kono Kalakaua in the first four seasons of "Hawaii Five-O", signed a 2.5 million contract to appear at C'est Si Bon Showroom in the Pagoda Hotel and Restaurant._


End file.
